Director
Joel Coen
Leading Actors/Actresses
William H. Macy
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Frances, McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Genre
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Language
English
Awards
Won 2 Oscars: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen - Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Best Actress in a Leading Role - Frances McDormand
Date of Release
1996
Producer
Ethan Coen
Setting and Context
Fargo, North Dakota; Minneapolis, Minnesota - 1996
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Jerry and Marge.
Tone and Mood
Serious, Dramatic, Suspenseful
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Marge. Antagonists are Jerry, Carl and Gaear
Major Conflict
Jerry hires Carl and Gaear to kidnap his wife to get family money in order to pay off debts.
Climax
Carl and Gaear end up killing a state trooper and two eyewitnesses, and Gaeare kills Jean, while Carl kills Jean's father. Gaear eventually kills Carl before being arrested by Marge, and Jerry is arrested as well.
Foreshadowing
Jerry paying two men to kidnap his wife foreshadows that something bad is bound to go wrong in his ingenious plan.
Understatement
It is understated that Gaear will kill Jean
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
N/A
Allusions
The film is an allusion to the desperate measures people are willing to go to in order to keep their blunders secret.
Paradox
Jerry hires Carl and Gaear to help him get out of a problematic situation. Paradoxically he has hired two men who are ready to kill at the drop of a hat, and they do.
Parallelism
Carl goes back to the roadside to bury money on the side of the highway. His location parallels the previous location where he and Gaear killed a state trooper and two eyewitnesses.
